Appeal not upheld - what next?

[bluecatnails]

Hoping someone can offer some advice here - we were refused a place at the school we chose for our daughter, due to start in Sept this year. She has been offered a place at a school that we feel is totally unsuitable for her (heavy emphasis on religion and we are atheists, high intake of "under-acheivers" when our daughter is described by her pre-school as "exceptionally bright & capable. Will need plenty of challenges & stimulation", it's the other side of town, away from all her friends and not 'local' as per the LEA's statement of preferences for allocating places, plus the school has a dreadful reputation and is currently under special measures for bullying etc) so we've politely declined that place.

We went through the appeal process - apparently there were 12 appellants & we have been told nobody has got through on appeal because the school is over-subscribed. Doh! We knew that, that's why we went to appeal!! Surely if that's the case, there was no point in holding appeals in the first place? The reason they gave was it wouldn't be fair to uphold just one appeal - they'd have to uphold them all...what?!

Anyway, we are left in a position now where we have no school place for our daughter. We could home-educate, but this is not ideal (we have a 10 year old at a different school and a 2 year old). How can we go about finding a place for her at a non-denom school when they are all full? Surely on religious grounds there must be something we can do? Can we appeal against the appeal panel's decision? Can we find out where on the waiting list we are for the preferred school so we can ascertain if it's worth waiting?

I'm at a loss as to what to do next - we can't afford an Independent school & at this late stage it's unlikely we'd get any kind of bursary for a primary place.

Help!!

The law says that you are entitled to free transport if, amongst other things, "no suitable arrangements have been made by the local education authority for enabling him to become a registered pupil at a qualifying school nearer to his home."

In broad terms, that means that if you end up at a school 10 miles away because you made it a higher preference than your nearest school or because you have rejected offers from nearer schools your child is not entitled to free transport. If you don't name your nearest school (or your catchment school if your LA operates formal catchments) as one of your preferences and you would have got a place had you named it you are probably not entitled to free transport however far away the allocated school is.

By the way, the distance goes up to 3 miles on the child's 8th birthday, not when they go to secondary school.

I should also add that families eligible for free school meals or where the parents are receiving tax credits at the maximum rate the rules are significantly different. Children of such families are entitled to free transport in many more sets of circumstances.

You need to get the letter off the clerk to the panel and find out exactly what it says. Does it really say that they would have to admit all 12 appellants if they admitted one because if it does that is not correct.
What was the PAN of the school and did the LA argue that it would be an infant class size case or not?
I have to say that your reasons are not a strong case to admit but from your post it does raise some questions in my mind as to whether the appeals were correctly carried out.
If you do not want to post here please fell free to PM me with information.

One option is to keep her in pre school and claim the 15 hours funding until she is legal school age (term after she turns 5)

Keep on waiting lists and hope a suitable place comes up/look at moving. Would give you a bit of breathing space. Let pre school know asap if you are keeping the place.

Sorry - got so engrossed in the free transport stuff I forgot to say anything about your appeal.

I agree with Admission that your post does not contain anything I would class as a reasonable case for an appeal but if the panel did not follow the correct process that is a secondary consideration at the moment.

However, saying the school is oversubscribed is not an adequate reason for refusing an appeal. Of course the school is oversubscribed. If it wasn't there would be no need for an appeal. And if the appeal panel genuinely decided that they should either admit all 12 or none of the appellants then they got it seriously wrong.

The big question is what the decision letter from the clerk gives as the reasons. If that is similar to the reasons stated in your original post it may be worth going to the Local Government Ombudsman to see if they will recommend a new appeal with a fresh panel.

I would only go down that route, though, if you have or can come up with a better case than the one you have stated here. If this is an infant class size case, that means finding evidence that a mistake has been made and your daughter should have been admitted. If it is not infant class size it is easier but you would still need to improve your case. At the moment it seems to be mainly about why you don't want the allocated school. You won't win that way. Your case must be about why your daughter needs to go to the appeal school.

I am also happy for you to PM me if you want.